Feature summary | Lightroom Classic (October 2021 release)

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Learn about major new features and enhancements in the October 2021 release of Lightroom Classic (version 11.0).

Experience enhanced editing with Masking

Reimagine local adjustments with the brand new Masking panel. Now use the Brush, Linear Gradient, and Radial Gradient tools with greater precision and organization. You can also access the Color Range and Luminance Range tools that help you select and adjust specific colors or brightness levels in a photo. Depth Range control is also available for photos containing depth information. You can choose to combine multiple masks in a single photo to make complex local adjustments and easily access them in an organized Masking panel.

You can use masking by following these steps:

Open a photo to edit in the Develop module.
Select Masking from the tool strip of the Develop module.

Masking in Develop module
Use one of the following tools to make a selection:
Brush

Click and drag the tool over the areas you want to edit. Adjust the Brush Size, Feather, Flow, and Density using the given slider

Linear Gradient

Click and drag the tool in the area you want to edit. This is useful to adjust a large portion of the photo with a gradually fading pattern that creates soft transitions.

Radial Gradient

Click and drag the tool in the area you want to edit. This tool helps you make local adjustments inside or outside an oval shape. Use the Feather slider to determine how soft you want the adjustments to be.

Linear Gradient tool in Masking
You can also use the following tools to make a selection:

Color Range

Use this tool to select a specific color. All areas in the photo with that specific color will be selected. The Refine slider helps you make an accurate color selection.

Luminance Range

Select a point or area in the photo using the tool. All areas with the selected range of brightness will become a selection. This way, you can make precise adjustments to just those levels of brightness in a photo. The Select Luminance slider and Show Luminance Map option help you decide the exact level of brightness you want to select.

Depth Range

Use this tool to select areas based on their distance from the camera. This tool is enabled only for photos containing depth information.

Color Range tool in Masking
Once your selection is made, use the editing sliders in the right panel to make local adjustments.
To make a new selection, click Create New Mask. The Masks panel gives you an organized and detailed view of the selections made and edits made to those selections. This way, you can combine multiple masking tools and follow through with the edits you make to them.
In the Masks panel, you can also:
- Invert the selection. Click the three-dot icon next to the mask and select Invert. This will select all areas of the photo that were previously not selected.
- Work with precision. Use Add and Subtract to add or remove areas from a mask. If you wish to intersect the current mask with others, click the three-dot icon and select Intersect Mask with.
- Customize the name of the mask, hide, delete, or duplicate it. Click the three-dot icon next to the mask and select Rename. You can also find options to Delete, Duplicate, or Hide the mask.
- Temporarily hide a mask. To temporarily hide the masks, click and hold the eye icon in the upper-right corner of the panel.
- Hide or view the Masking Overlay. Use the Show Overlay toggle to hide or view the Overlay.
- Change the color of the overlay. Click the button in the bottom-right corner and select the desired color. You can also click the three-dot menu in the lower-right corner and select from the given menu.
- Color Overlay on B&W, Image on B&W, White on Black, and more options.
- Drag the floating Masks panel to the right panel to dock it. You can drag it out to undock.
- Get a cleaner workspace. Click the right arrow in the upper-right corner to minimize the panel.

For more information, see Masking.

Automatically select subject and sky in an image

Update Lightroom Classic

Backed by Artificial Intelligence, the Masking panel offers two new options - Select Subject and Select Sky! Now with just a click, select the subject or sky in your photo and make adjustments to just the selection.

Select a subject (person, animal, or thing) in your photo

Open a photo to edit in the Develop module.
Select Masking > Select Subject from the tool strip of the Develop module.

The Select Subject option in Masking
Lightroom Classic will analyze the photo and automatically select the subject for you. You can view the selection as an overlay (red, by default) and a mask is created in the Masks panel.

Subject is automatically selected
You can further refine the mask using the Masks panel. Click the mask in the Masks panel and select Add to further add areas to the selection or Subtract to erase areas of the automatic selection. You can use any of the masking tools to do this. The easiest to use is the Brush where you can simply paint the areas you want to edit.

Add or Subtract from a mask

To invert the selection, click Invert. This will select everything else except the subject. You can also click the three-dot icon next to the Mask and select Invert Subject Selection.

Click Invert to select all areas except the subject
Once you're happy with the selection, use the editing sliders in the right to make local adjustments.

Quickly select the sky on your photo

Open a photo to edit in the Develop module.
Select Masking > Select Sky from the tool strip of the Develop module.

The Select Sky option in Masking
Lightroom Classic will analyze the photo and automatically select the sky for you. You can view the selection as an overlay (red, by default) and a mask is created in the Masks panel.

Sky is automatically selected
You can further refine the mask using the Masks panel. Click the mask in the Masks panel and select Add to further add areas to the selection or Subtract to erase areas of the automatic selection. You can use any of the masking tools to do this. The easiest to use is the Brush where you can simply paint the areas you want to edit.

Add or Subtract from a mask

To invert the selection, click Invert. This will select everything else except the subject. You can also click the three-dot icon next to the Mask and select Invert Subject Selection.
Once you're happy with the selection, use the editing sliders in the right to make local adjustments.

Improved Metadata Workflow

The Metadata Panel in Lightroom Classic now has updated user experience and workflows to give more control, improve efficiency, and reduce performance slowdowns.

View metadata for target photo

When multiple images are selected, you can now choose to view metadata for the active image or across all selected images. To view the metadata for the active image, select Target Photo or select Selected Photos to view metadata of all the selected images. By default, Target Photo is selected as the option to view metadata.

Selected Photos — View metadata for all selected photos

Customize which fields are displayed in the Metadata panel

This release introduces a new Customize button at the bottom of the Metadata Panel.

Customize metadata fields — Customize button at the bottom of the Metadata panel

Click the Customize button to select the metadata fields that you want to display in the Metadata Panel.

Customize metadata default plan — Customize metadata fields

Note:

Selecting a large number of metadata fields might have an impact on the performance of the Metadata Panel.

You can also arrange the order in which the selected metadata fields should appear in the Metadata Panel. Click Arrange in the Customize Metadata Default Panel dialog box and drag and drop the selected fields to rearrange them. Any new field added to the customized Metadata Panel will be added at the end of the rearranged list.

Edit-Only mode

When batch editing metadata for a large number of selected images, putting the metadata panel into Edit-Only mode will speed up performance. In this mode, the current metadata values are not displayed.

Support for new cameras and lenses

For a full list of supported cameras and lens profiles, see these resources:

Other Enhancements

New catalog file to reduce storage

The way that the Lightroom Classic database is stored on disk has been optimized and a new file will be created. This new file, with an extension of .lrcat-data, will now be found in the same folder as your catalog file. This file contains important information about your photos and edits and should be included in any backup regimes you may have.

Batch Edit improvements

With this release, you will experience performance improvements after settings are applied to a batch of images. Previews will get updated faster in Grid, Secondary Grid, and Survey Mode.

Auto Save into XMP

This release introduces several enhancements for when Automatically write changes into XMP option is selected in Catalog Settings.

The Saving XMP for x photos text will be displayed in the Activity Center to show the photo count for which XMP writing is pending. This will be visible if Auto Save XMP is checked in the Identity Plate context menu.

You can pause saving the XMP from Activity Center. This option is available only when Automatically write changes into XMP option is enabled in the Catalog Settings.

Filter by Date enhancement

With this release, you can filter all images in a catalog by a specific date by specifying the Year, Month, and Day.

New Premium Presets

New sets of Premium Presets are now available in Lightroom Classic, designed to help you achieve your creative vision quickly. Premium Presets now includes eight new categories: Black & White, Food, Landscape, Urban Architecture, Lifestyle, Retro, Travel II, and Cinematic II.

Camera matching Color Profiles for Canon Picture Styles

Camera matching Color Profiles are added for Canon Picture Styles. Check this article to see if your Canon camera that has CR3 raw file support is included.